2017 to See Growth in Asia Travel Startup Funding, Say Amadeus Next

Travel innovations like BorderPass and Seatfrog have enabled air passsengers to skip immigration queues and secure last-minute airline upgrades respectively, examples of two startups made possible by Amadeus Next, the division launched byAmadeus to provide technology, expertise, reach and funding to travel startups in Asia Pacific (APAC).

A year on Amadeus Next has powered 30 startups working in tandem with 51 partners that included Tune Labs, Tech In Asia, MaGIC (Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre), 500 Startups and Jungle Ventures. Collectively these startups serve an average of 10 million active users every month (click on infographic below to expand).

Looking back on 2016, Simon Akeroyd, vice president of corporate strategy and business development for Amadeus Asia Pacific, said Amadeus was proud to have achieved so much in such a short time on its road to building a community for travel technology startups in the region.

“With 30 startups and 51 partners on board our focus in 2017 is to continue growing our startup community in Asia Pacific, and to look for like-minded partners and organisations who are equally excited about innovation and travel technology to pilot the startups and validate their solutions and business models.

“A key focus for us would be to continue delivering Amadeus Next’s offering in the four main pillars: technology, expertise, reach and funding. Having worked with these startups for a year, we have helped them grow and progress from seed-funding stage to Series A, B and beyond. Helping these startups to gain access to funding and move to the next financing round will be a key focus for us this year.”

On a recent report that funding for startups are drying up and startups are failing, and if it would affect Amadeus Next’s future plans, Akeroyd answered in the negative, saying the situation was more reflective of the landscape in the United States.

“Things are different here in Asia Pacific, and we still see the momentum. We have seen investments continuing to flow into the region, and the startup sector has seen great growth and expansion over the past year.

“In fact, Southeast Asia in particular has seen a great potential for growth in the startup space. Investors have focused their attention and investments on Southeast Asia as the booming Internet economy in the region provides a lucrative incentive – US$200 billion annually within 10 years.”

Akeroyd admitted that while investments into Asia are often not as big and long term compared to those in other parts of the world, the travel technology market is getting a bigger slice of the pie.

“With travel providers like Uber and Airbnb achieving Unicorn status (global companies valued at more than US$1 billion) the travel technology industry is a high potential sector, especially in Asia Pacific where it is increasing not just in size but also in value.”

Akeroyd is confident funding will continue to grow in the Asia Pacific region. “Amadeus Next is committed to supporting travel technology startups in the region to take them to the ‘Next’ level on their journey to becoming the next Unicorn.”

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Founded by two travel and technology professionals with years of experience in Asia, Representasia specialises in sales & marketing representation throughout Southeast Asia for travel/hospitality technology providers and travel-related startups, as well as providing marketing consultancy services for hotels and travel businesses in the region.